Pelargonium or geranium is a flower that is very easy to care for. It will decorate not only the room, but also the balcony, terrace or garden. At home, such pelargonium can be grown as in the photo from seeds.
Features of the cultivation of pelargonium
It is worth mentioning right away that only zonal geranium can be grown from seeds. Other species reproduce somewhat differently.
Pelargonium Seed Selection
To avoid possible errors, you need to carefully select and prepare planting material. When choosing seeds, special attention should be paid to the following points:
1. Color. Quality pelargonium seeds have a rich brown color. Slight dullness and a slight shade are allowed.
2. The form. The developed seeds are oblong, on their sides insignificant depressions are visible on them.
Size 3. Planting material is quite large.
4. The shell. Pelargonium seeds are characterized by a dense leathery shell.
If planting material has all these qualities, then it can be purchased. You should refuse to buy small, flattened, deformed or stained seeds. A good result cannot be expected from planting such material.
Preplanting seed treatment
As already mentioned, geranium seeds have a dense shell, which complicates their germination. Sometimes the seedlings have to wait quite a while, but the seeds still do not germinate. The reason for the failure of improper seed treatment before planting or its absence.
Before planting, geranium seeds must be scarified - a procedure for removing a dense film. It is not difficult to independently carry out this procedure. To do this, you need fine sandpaper. With its help, only the upper dense layer is removed from the seeds, and there are no deep gaps.
You need to process each seed separately, rubbing it on sandpaper several times.
Soil selection for growing pelargonium from seeds
Geranium prefers a light, nutritious mixture that passes water and air well to the roots of the plant. For seed germination, you can use ready-made shop soil or make it yourself. There are several options:
• mix peat, sand, humus and compost in equal proportions;
• combine two parts of garden land with one part of peat and sand;
• dilute peat with perlite in a ratio of 1: 1.
If it is possible to prepare a substrate for growing yourself, then it should be used. Seedlings appear in the purchased soil later, seedlings are weaker, the bush forms thin stems, flowering is sparse.
Before sowing seeds, the prepared substrate must be decontaminated to avoid further infection of the flower. To do this, it is fried for several minutes in the oven.
Advice! For processing the soil, you can use ready-made high-quality fungicides or manganese. But the landing should be postponed for a day.
The most favorable time for sowing seeds is February or March. If sowing pelargonium later, the plant is greatly extended and blooms only after 9 months.
Sowing Pelargonium Seeds
Seeds are sown in shallow pots or plates whose height does not exceed 3 cm. If there are no special containers, then trays from semi-finished products and any improvised containers will do.
The containers are filled with a substrate and sprinkled with plenty of water, after which they are left to warm. Recommended soil temperature is 21-22 degrees.
Prepared geranium seeds are soaked in warm water for three hours, which contributes to the emergence of seedlings. Further, they are laid out on the surface of the soil, slightly pressing into the soil. Sprinkle the seeds with a thin layer of loose substrate.
Landings are covered with glass or a plastic bag, taken out to a well-lit place where the temperature does not drop below 20 degrees.
Important! After one to two weeks, when the shoots appear, the containers need to be gradually opened. From this moment you need to monitor the soil moisture.
Pelargonium care after germination
In order for the plants to grow healthy and strong, to form a beautiful bush, they need to be well looked after. Geranium needs timely watering, top dressing, loosening the soil, warm climate, picking and pinching.
Watering and feeding
A common mistake of beginning gardeners is excessive soil moisture, which leads to an insidious disease - a black leg. It develops very quickly and destroys all seedlings. To avoid this, it is necessary to make a drainage layer in the tanks for planting and holes for the drain of excess water.
In addition, the irrigation mode is also important. Seedlings are watered as the soil dries, trying not to flood them. After diving into separate containers, plants are watered no more than twice a week. In winter, the frequency of watering is reduced to once every seven days.
The first time they feed geranium two weeks after a pick. To do this, use fertilizers for flowering plants with a rich content of potassium and phosphorus, for example, "Agricola".
Frequency of top dressing - once every two weeks. In winter, the subcortex stops.
Lighting and air temperature
When caring for young seedlings, you need to remember about their need for light. Seedling containers are best located on the eastern or western windows. On the south side, shading from direct sunlight will be required, which even in winter can damage delicate foliage.
During the period of active growth and the formation of shoots, geraniums should be illuminated for at least 16 hours. If natural light is not enough, then in the evening organize backlighting. In summer, flower pots are placed on the balcony, terrace or garden.
In the room where pelargonium is grown, you need to maintain the optimum temperature. It should be at the level of 20-25 degrees. In winter, an adult plant can withstand a brief drop in temperature to 10 degrees. But for young seedlings, such fluctuations are fatal.
Pelargonium pick and pinch
In order for a plant to have a developed root system, it must be grown in separate containers.
The pickling of seedlings is carried out after the appearance of two real leaves. For further cultivation, narrow and tall pots are selected, with a diameter of about 10 cm. If the seedlings are slightly extended, then they can be slightly buried in the ground.
So that geranium has a beautiful shape of a bush and does not stretch, it must be nipped regularly.
The first pinch is carried out after the fifth real sheet. In the future, the flower is regularly pruned in spring and autumn, while all weak and thin shoots are cut. Shaping of the bush is stopped 1.5 months before flowering. Geranium blooms in room conditions three to four months after planting. The photo shows the places of pinching.
As you can see, the cultivation and care of pelargonium is very simple. It is enough to surround the seedlings with care, and colorful caps will soon appear on the windowsill. If desired, in May, pelargonium can be planted on a flower bed, where it will delight flowering all summer. Before the onset of frost, the flower is transplanted back into the pot and brought into the room.
Pelargonium zonal - a bright and useful pot plant. She will not only decorate the beds, but also scare away various pests.
